Summary In the early morning hours of 10July2004, while proceeding upbound in the St.Clair River in calm and clear conditions, the barge OceanHauler, pushed by the tug EvansMcKeil, struck and knocked down several private docks and severely damaged a pleasure craft on the United States side of the river. The tug and barge continued ahead a short distance until the tug ran aground. There was no pollution and no one was injured. Ce rapport est galement disponible en franais. Other Factual Information Particulars of the Vessels Description of the Tug and Barge Unit The EvansMcKeil is a tug of steel construction and has two conning positions. An elevated upper wheelhouse is located on a vertical gantry above the main lower wheelhouse. Which wheelhouse is used depends upon whether the barge is carrying dry cargo on its open deck, or liquid cargo in its tanks. When the barge is in ballast or unladen, only the upper wheelhouse is used to provide the best line of sight (see photos1 and 2). Although the upper wheelhouse can accommodate two persons, there is only room for one navigating officer at the forward wheelhouse windows, and it presents a challenge to correctly position a second person as lookout. However, a clear view can be had from an exterior catwalk around the perimeter of the wheelhouse platform. A person leaving the upper wheelhouse must go down 15steps on the gantry stairway to the top of the lower wheelhouse (see Photo3), descend a ladder to the bridge deck, then walk several metres toward the stern and climb down another deckhouse ladder to reach the main deck. The estimated time to accomplish this safely is approximately 1minute 30seconds. The master's cabin is located on the bridge deck immediately aft of the lower wheelhouse. In the pushing mode, the stem of the tug is secured at the pushing point, a 1.5m deep, V-shaped indent located at the stern of the barge. An additional set of securing wires from the stern of the tug keeps the centreline of the tug in line with the centreline of the barge. The OceanHauler is a flat-topped steel tank/deck barge. Although used primarily for the carriage of liquid cargo, it is also capable of carrying dry cargo on the open deck. Since the beginning of the shipping season, the barge was being used solely for transporting brine. Trailer units are secured on the starboard quarter of the barge to house cargo handling machinery and a small office. Navigation Equipment Navigation equipment in the upper wheelhouse includes a 3cm radar, gyrocompass, an electronic chart system (ECS) with raster chart display on a laptop computer integrated with a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), Automatic Identification System (AIS), and a hand-held remote steering controller. There is a small drop-leaf table space to starboard of centre for the placement of a folded chart or chartlet. It is normal practice for the master or first officer to be on duty alone in the wheelhouse. The instrumentation and steering station is duplicated in the lower wheelhouse. There is a ship's telephone connected to different locations on the tug. The remote steering controller has switch settings for four modes; Standby, Tiller, Pilot, and Nav, and above the switch is a small rectangular LED display that indicates the rudder angle/course change setting in degrees (see Photo4). Standby - There is no control as steering pumps are ready for use but not effective. Tiller - The rudder is moved X number of degrees, port or starboard, to a maximum of 35degrees and it will remain in the Xposition set by the lower switch. Pilot - The rudder is moved automatically to maintain a specific course heading input to the remote controller. Nav - The rudder is moved automatically port or starboard to attain a one-degree course change with each press of either the white port or starboard buttons. History of the Voyage At 2045 eastern daylight time2 on 09July2004, the tug EvansMcKeil, with its bow made fast to the stern of the empty barge OceanHauler, departed Amherstburg, Ontario, proceeding upbound in the Amherstburg Channel section of the Detroit River. The voyage to Courtright, Ontario, takes approximately nine hours to complete and the preferred steering mode setting on the controller is Tiller for 95percent of the time. Because the barge was in a light draught condition, the upper wheelhouse was used for navigation purposes. Whenever there was little or no traffic in the vicinity, the tug-barge unit would take the shortest direct route along whichever side of the navigation channel saved time at turns in the river. Shortly before midnight, the first officer relieved the master. At 0140, on July10, the tug-barge unit was passing light X32 in the southwestern reaches of the St.Clair Cutoff Channel when the last entry in the bridge navigation logbook was made. At 0330, the first officer was alone on watch piloting the unit and performing all the navigation functions including operation of the remote steering controller, which was set to Tiller. The unit was moving at near full ahead speed of about 6.7knots in calm conditions with good visibility. At 0335, the tug-barge unit was abeam of Algonac State Park, Michigan, United States, and was tracking to port of the centre of the channel at approximately one quarter of the width of the channel from the United States shoreline. There was no traffic in the immediate vicinity at that time and the first officer prepared to leave the upper wheelhouse to use the washroom on the main deck. He was aware of the unit's approach position relative to buoy G37and the shoreline and that a course change was imminent. The steering control unit was switched from the Tiller setting to another mode (intended to be Pilot), then the first officer left the upper wheelhouse unattended. Meanwhile, the captain remained asleep in his cabin on his six-hour rest period. Information recorded by the Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) at Sarnia, Ontario, indicates that the course being steered by the tug-barge unit at this time was 355true(T) with a speed of 6.2to 6.3knots over the ground. It was also indicated that, by 0336, the unit had altered course from 355T to 336T or 19toport. When the first officer was returning to the upper wheelhouse, the tug-barge unit was heading on a converging course with the shoreline; between buoy G37 and the shoreline, which was approximately 25m away. Upon arrival in the upper wheelhouse, he attempted to switch the remote steering controller to the Tiller setting to change the direction of the unit. Initially, the helm did not respond but, within seconds, the Tiller setting was properly engaged to bring the rudder hard over to starboard. At 0337:20, the unit altered course to starboard to 359T and the tugs's engine was put to full astern as the barge struck some private mooring docks and severely damaged a 10m pleasure craft (see photos5and6). The unit continued on through shallowing water. At 0340, the tug ran aground due to its draught being almost twice that of the barge but remained connected to the floating barge. The grounding occurred at position 4239'50"N and 08230'51"W, some 30m north of light buoyG37 in the lower St.Clair River (see AppendixA). Damage Both tug and barge remained undamaged. However, six privately owned mooring docks were damaged and one pleasure craft was rendered a constructive total loss. Personnel Certification and Experience The first officer held a First Mate, Local Voyage Certificate. He had worked aboard various types of vessels for 35years, 14months of which were with McKeilMarineLtd. During this time, he acquired experience as navigating officer and fullfilled the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority (GLPA) trip requirements for conducting pilotage. The master held a Home Trade and Near Coastal Certificate for a ship of less than 3000gross tons since1990. He also fullfilled the GLPA requirements for conducting pilotage. The vessel carried the minimum number of persons required by regulations, but there was no watchkeeping engineer (Fourth Class) or Bridge Watchman certificate holder on board at the time. Hours of Work and Rest Practices The 72-hour work history revealed that the officer of the watch (OOW) and the master met the hours of rest requirements of the Crewing Regulations3 pursuant to the Canada Shipping Act. The first officer joined the tug EvansMcKeil at its 2004spring refit in Hamilton and the master joined on 08July2004 as relief master. Although the master performed all the docking and undocking manoeuvres, they worked shifts of 6hours on duty followed by 6hours of rest.